J. Cole Enjoys the New Generation of Rappers But Thinks Trolling Gets in the Way

J. Cole dropped a lot of gems during his interview with radio legend Angie Martinez, but one of the main highlights was when he broke down the story behind KOD's eye-opening track "1985 (Intro to 'The Fall Off')," and addressed much of the backlash that it inspired.

Since the release of Jermaine Cole's KOD album, many have taken to "1985" because of the lyrical aim taken at the new wave of rappers. Cole wants to let those who took issue with the song know that he's not against them, he's even a fan of some, but they need to think about the future.

"First of all, I fuck with them," he says. "I actually fuck with the music. It's not like I drive around and listen to it, but I've spent time listening to it and being like yo, this is fun. It ain't about shit and it don't matter, but this is fun. It might be at the cost of something, it might be some detrimental effects, you know, somewhere down the line."

The lyricist also addressed the "Fuck J. Cole" chants that have been breaking out at other artist's concerts, such as Smokepurpp. "It's not confusing because I think I've spent enough time seeing what's going on, and what's brewing with kids to understand it" he begins, telling Martinez shortly after "I don't know if you know, but that was prominent for like, at least a year before that song came out."

Cole says first took notice a while back when the artists would speak out against him during the No Jumper podcast, so he decided to make a visit to the L.A. store while he was in town. "So I pulled up to the store where they be at, just to check it out. And I'm prepared. I'm like, yo I walk in the store it might be somebody tryna fight me or something, 'cause the energy was like 'Fuck J. Cole,'" he remembers.

Fortunately that wasn't the case and when people began showing him love, he realized it was all just a huge marketing tactic. "We're in the generation of trolling. These kids have figured something out. They figured out that attention is all that matters," he continues, noting that newer rap artists don't feel they need skill or quality.

Hear him discuss 6ix9ine, how capitalism "awards fuckery" and more starting at the 1:08 mark below.